Énouement
by backinthebox
Summary: Stacie was going to need more than the girl's major and dorm building and room number if they were going to keep hooking up, but their third time to hook up seemed to be the worst moment to admit that she didn't know – or had forgotten – the girl's name.
1. Chapter 1

Stacie jerked awake; startled into consciousness by the offensive blaring of a phone – or the world's most annoying music box – which she really hoped was some kind of alarm.

"Ugh." Her bed partner muttered, and then the noise immediately, gloriously, stopped. There was a low groan, before the girl shifted in the bed, followed by the telltale sounds and movements of someone getting out of bed and preparing for the day. Stacie considered pretending to stay asleep – the girl wasn't waking her up and kicking her out of bed yet, and the bed was ridiculously comfortable for a college dorm room, definitely far more comfortable than Stacie's – but then her own phone started blaring the sound for her alarm, and she groaned.

There was a low chuckle, and an almost amused tone when the other girl noted, "early start?"

"You have no idea." Stacie grumbled, looking around for the clothes they had unceremoniously discarded the night previous.

Another chuckle. "I might."

Considering the girl's alarm went off earlier than Stacie's, Stacie had to concede that maybe she did. Stacie spared the girl a glance, and instantly regretted it, noting, "Do you always look this hot first thing in the morning?"

The girl laughed – and yes, that smile could burn like a thousand suns – and returned, "It's unfair that you're actually hotter in broad daylight."

Stacie pulled her dress on and into a semblance of decency, before coming up to the girl, who was tying her shoelaces for her running shoes, and presenting her back. "Zip me up?"

A girl obviously accustomed to the rules of one night stands, she obediently zipped up the dress, making no move that could be even remotely construed as flirtatious or starting a morning-after round, and simply announced, "you're good."

"Thanks." Stacie finished picked up the clutch she'd had with her the previous evening, and after checking that it still had her basics – mascara, lipstick, cellphone, cash and ID – turned back to the girl. "I'm gonna leave now."

The girl nodded. "Have a nice day."

Stacie paused, momentarily thrown off track, because that was a really weird way to end a one night stand, but then, hot amazing sex aside, she didn't really know this girl. And she didn't really do repeat performances, so she merely nodded. "Yeah."

And rushed out, because she had Bellas rehearsals.

* * *

The Barden Bellas were one of four a cappella groups in the Barden University campus, and oddly, for being the oldest group on campus, they _just barely_ beat out the BU Harmonics for second place in the hierarchy, behind the multi-awarded Treblemakers and… the High Notes weren't really in any way competitive, so there you go.

Stacie had never been much for discipline, or schedules, or anything regimen-oriented, having gotten by in high school on her natural intellect, and an uncanny ability to work the system to her advantage, not to mention the fact that if and when she settled down to concentrate on something, her projects almost always got perfect scores as a result. The Barden Bellas usually only had rehearsals in the afternoon, save for Saturday morning, when their rehearsals were practically at the crack of dawn and involved a hell of a lot of cardio. Their captain said it was tradition, and Stacie believed her, but she also believed that the girls who came before just said it was tradition when it was really to punish anyone who even dared to go to a party on Friday night.

Their captain was a senior named Chloe, who was all sunshine and rainbows and silver linings, but often made side remarks about being left alone and having to fend for herself and building things up she hadn't been to blame for letting fall apart… which was alarming and strange, but since the rest of them were new, and most of them were freshmen, nobody had really dared to question Chloe's statements.

But a few weeks into rehearsals, when Chloe went off on another tangent about how everything would be easier if she wasn't the only non-freshman in the group – pointedly ignoring Denise's token protest of "hey!" – Chloe finally admitted that her best friend, who had been the only other Bella besides her who hadn't been graduating the previous year, was supposed to be doing leadership and captaincy duties with her, but a series of unfortunate events – starting from projectile vomiting in a nervous reflex at the ICCAs – had led to her departure, subsequently leaving Chloe high and dry.

At least their members were decent, and Chloe could just provide the leadership and guidance, having gone through the competition season and done the ICCA rounds before; one of the freshmen, Jessica, had been captain of her a cappella group in high school so she was good with break downs, and another freshman, Ashley, had a good ear for pitch and sound. One of the other freshmen, a sulky brat of a girl named Beca, was some kind of DJ, and for all her protests that she was only in the Bellas to appease her dad on his insistence that she join a club, she actually seemed pretty eager to do everything and anything Chloe asked, and her mixes were actually pretty good.

So they weren't exactly _suffering_ from the absence of Chloe's best friend, whose name she had declared banned from the walls of the Bellas' house and rehearsal space – "until she stops using her ass as a hat", Chloe added – and it wasn't like the girls knew what would have been the difference if she were around.

Chloe is determined to bring the Barden Bellas back from their rut, and if she can win that damn ICCA trophy and prove to everyone – including her former captain, who it seemed had no love lost for either Chloe or her best friend – that _she_ would bring the Bellas to victory.

And the Bellas love Chloe, so they all do their part.

But competition, especially one that requires traveling to competition sites, require funding, and other than a girl who called herself Fat Amy and Stacie, nobody else was quite so willing to remove their clothes and put on a bikini to partake in a car wash. Singing telegrams was a suggestion, but Regionals was in January, and nobody really dedicated songs to people unless it was Valentine's Day.

They needed ideas, and fast.

* * *

"Throw a party."

Stacie furrowed her brow, and glanced beside her at the blonde, who shrugged. "A party?"

"You said you needed to do some fundraising, right? Throw a party – not on campus, because that won't make it special – and make it big enough and special enough that people will pay money to be part of it." She added. "Make an event out of it. Auctions always work, because of the bidding part, or you can hook up with the Fashion and Design Arts department for clothes to auction off."

"And that's allowed?"

"You'll need permission from the dean to declare it an official fundraiser, but yes."

Stacie regarded the blonde thoughtfully.

It had been a random encounter: unlike last time, they had not been at the same campus party; instead Stacie had been heading home from the riff-offs, only making a small detour to a sorority party that reportedly had the best alcohol on campus, and had come across the blonde, who had been in line for a body shot, and Stacie had volunteered.

Also unlike last time, they both weren't nearly drunk enough to write this off as just sexual chemistry.

"Why do you need to know so much about fundraising?" Stacie asked.

There was a pause, before she answered, "I'm a business major. That's kind of what I do."

* * *

Chloe loves the idea, and so do all the other Bellas. They all love a good party, and Beca plays it cool by saying it'll be a good place for her to sample her music, the mixes she liked to do in her free time. Amy and Cynthia-Rose are always down for a good party, and everybody is utilized for preparing for the event.

They agree on auctioning off the Bellas themselves, offering three hours of their individual time to hang out with people, with the very specific provision that it has to be in public, in daylight, and subject to the agreement of the girl who had been "won".

* * *

To celebrate the success of advanced ticket sales, Stacie hunts down her new favorite blonde, and this time finds her back in her dorm room, where they waste no time with pleasantries or the like. Stacie was going to need more than the girl's major and dorm building and room number if they were going to keep hooking up, but their third time hooking up seemed to be the worst moment to admit that she didn't know – or had forgotten – the girl's name.

When they were done, the girl needed to finish her homework, and was remarkably laidback in kicking Stacie out. "I'm going to need you to go."

"Yeah, sure, okay." Stacie nodded, and proceeded to get dressed. When she was done, she told her, "You know, we have a lot of fun when we do this."

The girl smiled, putting on a shirt. "That sounds a lot like an invitation for more."

"Are you saying no?"

"I'm saying I thought you don't like going for seconds."

"This is our third." Stacie mused.

The girl shrugged, before quipping, "But who's counting?"

"And I said that before you demonstrated your 'two to start' trick." Stacie pointed out.

The girl laughed, and, blushing, acknowledged the compliment.

And the fact that someone could _blush_ about being good in bed had Stacie wanting more. She was ready to amp her game up to a full on charm attack when the girl reached for the drawer on the desk they stood beside, en route to the door, and extracted a calling card.

"You just have those lying around?"

"Business majors have cards made during our junior year."

"You're a junior?"

"Senior."

Stacie smiled sultrily. "I've always liked them older."

The girl smirked. "I don't blame you."

Stacie tucked the card into her bra, and stepped back. "I'm really gonna go now."

"Have fun." Pause, and then, the smirk growing slightly, "don't strain yourself more than you already have."

Stacie rolled her eyes, and without another glance back, left the room. Once she was well out of the dorm building and in the solitude of her own room, she extracted the card, and glanced at the name. _Aubrey Posen_.

* * *

"Aubrey!" Stacie greeted enthusiastically, a few days later, and dropped onto the empty chair opposite the blonde in the makeshift _al fresco_ seating of the snack bar/café on the ground floor of the Business and Economics building. Her smile notched a few levels more brightly when Aubrey smiled back at her. "Just the girl I was looking for."

"Oh?"

Stacie nodded. "I actually can't stay, I have a class, but I just wanted to, you know, I forgot, the other day, being too wrapped up in the—"

"Orgasms?"

"Celebrating," Stacie said pointedly, giving Aubrey a playful glare and a nudge to the shin, "and I forgot to give you something."

Aubrey arched an eyebrow in curiosity.

Stacie dug into her bag, and extracted a ticket. "Cover's like ten bucks, but if you want to take part in the auction, it's twenty-five for a ticket. And since it was your idea, you get a discount."

Aubrey laughed. "So you're charging me for a party you're inviting me to?"

"It's for a good cause."

"Keeping to my monthly budget is a good cause."

"I promise to save a dance with you."

Aubrey scoffed. "Tempting."

"Two."

"Three."

"Deal."

"What's my discount?"

"Five bucks?"

Aubrey rolled her eyes.

"Come on, if you bid on me and win, I'll even make like a ten-dollar hooker and try to say it like I mean it."

Aubrey rolled her eyes, and extracted the money from her pocketbook, before handing it to Stacie. "This better be the world's best alcohol-free party, or I'm going to ask for my money back."

Stacie stalled, blinking blankly at her.

"It's an official event, right? School sanctioned?" Aubrey reminded. "If anyone in the room is underage to be drinking, you'll be held liable. If you charge for the party, and anything happens to any of the people who had been inside, you'll be held liable." Aubrey expounded. "It counts as the sale and distribution of alcohol, and you'll need either a license of a really good lawyer to do that."

Stacie stared at her for a beat longer, and then stood up abruptly. She shoved the ticket into Aubrey's hands. "Here. I have to go talk to Chloe."

Aubrey waved at Stacie's retreating back. "Bye!"

And then it took Aubrey all of ten seconds later to have her own moment of discovery, and quickly looked down at the print on the ticket Stacie had handed her, her breath catching when she made the visual confirmation and read that the party was being hosted by the Barden Bellas. "Oh, no no no." She glanced in the direction Stacie had disappeared to, and then buried her face in her hands.

"Oh no."


	2. Chapter 2

She had no idea what to do. Aubrey, after all, had backed away from the Barden Bellas for a number of reasons, self-preservation and ensuring she no longer tainted the proud institution of the Bellas among them, and she had even sacrificed her friendship with Chloe as a means to an end. She hadn't liked doing it, but her dad had pointed out that her humiliation should serve as a sign that she should stop searching for attention through performing, and that she should simply just double down and focus on getting into a good law school.

Ultimately, she had chosen to walk away. She knew she had been putting Chloe in a tough spot, to have to try and put together a competition-worthy group by herself, but she'd also known that Chloe wouldn't have a problem recruiting people: Between the two of them, Chloe wasn't the one with the grating, overbearing take-charge personality. People _liked_ Chloe. They especially liked Chloe when Aubrey wasn't around.

Chloe hadn't felt the same way, and as much as she had tried to be understanding and sympathetic, she'd still felt the betrayal of Aubrey leaving the Bellas, the fact that Aubrey was choosing to walk away from something that meant the world to them.

And Aubrey respected Chloe's perspective. So she had promised that whatever happened, she and Chloe would still be friends, but that she just couldn't be a Bella anymore. It had been a struggle, not to join Chloe during the activities fair or during auditions; and had feigned ignorance of the fact that Tom, who had been their friend since their sophomore year, had been recruited by Chloe to help with the logistics of "kidnapping" the new Bellas for initiation.

She hadn't realized that by distancing herself from the Barden Bellas, she had been distancing herself from Chloe.

In the end, she and Chloe had agreed that while they were still friends, and lines of communication would always be open between them, they both could benefit from a little time and distance, some separation, so that Chloe could learn to handle being captain of the Bellas by herself, to create a relationship with the new recruits, and Aubrey could learn to hear about the Barden Bellas without feeling the pangs of guilt and betrayal at the fact that she had walked away from an institution that had been so helpful to her throughout her college life.

And now she had slept with one of Chloe's recruits. Three times. And had even been entertaining the idea of asking Stacie out and try to make a real go at dating.

She had been an instrumental, albeit unwitting, part of the Bellas' fundraising endeavor, and now she had a choice.

Because she knew Chloe wouldn't be happy with the turn of events. If she didn't jump to the conclusion that Aubrey had hooked up with Stacie to manipulate the freshman into being her eyes and ears into the Barden Bellas, she still wouldn't be happy that: a) their fundraising event had been Aubrey's idea, and b) Aubrey was sleeping with one of the new Bellas.

And Aubrey could only guess at what Stacie would have to say.

Never mind the fact that she hadn't known Stacie was a Bella until the moment she'd handed Aubrey a ticket to their event.

It was a choice, she knew, one she would have to make once everything came out in the open. Chloe had made it clear to her that if Aubrey walked away, she had to stay away, and her ignorance had made her break that promise. And she liked Stacie too much to avoid the party just to avoid the inevitable confrontation with Chloe.

But the place was packed, obviously a result of a successful PR campaign and word of mouth – although Aubrey wondered how they managed to keep quiet the fact that they wouldn't be serving alcohol – and by keeping close with the friends she had gone to the party with, Aubrey managed to not only avoid her acquaintances from the a cappella circles, but she also successfully avoided both Chloe and Stacie for a little while.

But her luck had to run out sometime.

She had been seeing Stacie around: it was kind of hard not to, when the girl was as tall as she was and was wearing ridiculous heels; not to mention the fact that her dress was eye-catching, the colors of the neon stripes on her dress shining brightly in the darkened room. And, well, Aubrey had been looking for her.

So when Stacie caught her looking, Aubrey couldn't help but smile, which only grew when Stacie smiled back and made her way closer. Vaguely aware that her friends had started to move away, Aubrey welcomed the hug that Stacie greeted her with, pleased that despite the fact that they have slept together, there was still a level of discretion to how they interacted in public.

"You came."

Aubrey smiled. "You asked."

"So if I asked you to—"

Aubrey laughed, interrupting the query. "Let's figure that part out slowly, shall we?"

Stacie laughed as well. "Now you're just making me want to know all the things I could get you to do."

"You'll have to ask first."

"I might even ask nicely." Stacie returned, her smile turning just a little bit mischievous.

She was so into this girl, Aubrey didn't doubt there were a lot of things she would be willing to do if Stacie asked nicely. She took a sip from her soda. "How'd you get around not serving alcohol?"

Stacie laughed. "Oh my God, you wouldn't believe–! We tried to get a license or whatever, but we couldn't, so one of the girls, Fat Amy, she–"

"You call her 'Fat Amy'?" Aubrey interrupted curiously.

"Yeah, she says it's so twig bitches don't call her that behind her back." Stacie told her. "Anyway, she has connections, right? And we're actually serving non-alcoholic everything, but don't tell anyone, because they totally think they're getting drunk."

Aubrey glanced around, and conceded that she probably wouldn't have been able to tell, either.

"But you're drinking soda?" Stacie asked.

"Yeah, it's…" Aubrey hadn't been sure if the drinks being served were alcoholic or not, but whatever the outcome of tonight was going to be, she had decided she would have to face it sober. "The auction hasn't started yet, and I'd like to control myself when that happens."

Stacie grinned, leaning in closer. "You're gonna try and bid on someone?"

Aubrey smiled. "That's the plan."

"And, in this plan of yours," Stacie idly traced Aubrey's collarbone with the tip of her index finger, "how much trouble can you and the Bella you're bidding on get into, in public and in broad daylight?"

"That's—"

"Stacie." A tall, short-haired brunette cut in, making Aubrey quickly create some distance between her and Stacie. The girl glanced briefly at Aubrey before turning back to Stacie. "CR wants to start the auction; Chloe said we should all head to the stage."

Stacie glared at the girl. "Yeah, okay. Thanks a lot, Ashley."

'Ashley' rolled her eyes, but didn't leave, apparently well aware that there was a chance that Stacie wouldn't heed the instruction immediately.

Stacie turned back to Aubrey. "You can only win the bid on one Bella, so choose wisely."

"Did I mention I had a plan?"

"I'm just saying." Stacie replied. "And you'll probably face stiff competition – literally – but I'm rooting for you."

"I don't want to know." Aubrey gently forced her to turn and follow Ashley, Stacie immediately complying and walking away with Ashley.

Ashley turned to Stacie as they walked towards the stage. "Who was that?"

"A girl I've been kind of seeing."

"Other than the _other_ people you're also kind of seeing?" Ashley asked.

Stacie shrugged.

"Because you haven't been up close and personal with anybody else who paid for an auction ticket tonight." Ashley continued.

"Maybe she's loaded."

"Is she?"

Stacie actually had no idea, because other than Aubrey's bed, and the crisp, thick vellum of her calling card, there wasn't a lot Stacie had to go on in regards to Aubrey. She had friends in one of the more elitist sororities in campus, and her clothes looked like they came from an Anthropologie ad, but other than that?

Oh, and the sex was awesome, but Stacie's had sex with rich frat boys who thought jackhammer sex was a good thing, so abilities in bed didn't really translate to money.

Okay, so she didn't really know anything about Aubrey, and they really needed to start hanging out more socially than just hooking up for a few hours, so hopefully the result of the auction was a step in the right direction, since the rules would basically force them to spend time together in public, in daylight, and possibly even with a chaperone.

They start bidding with Amy, followed by Ashley, Beca, Cynthia-Rose, Denise, Jessica, and Lilly. Stacie's next, and they're ending with Chloe, since she knows the most number of people in the room.

Some, like Beca, had specified right away what they would be doing for the "date", and Stacie could only surmise whether the bid for Beca was for the sometimes-antisocial girl, or for the opportunity to hang out at the campus radio station.

Stacie hadn't made such a specification, so it was really free choice, and she wasn't going to brag, but Stacie may have preened a little when the bidding for her quickly escalated.

She might have deflated a bit at how quickly Aubrey gave up when the bidding broke into the hundreds, leaving her in the hands of two boys whose bidding went from harmless fun to impassioned claim for superiority, and in the end she was scheduled to go out with some douchey-looking frat boy who barely gave her a second glance when he was declared the winner. Which only fed to her belief that at one point, he'd been less interested in her than in beating the other guy.

But if she'd been riled up about that, it was nothing in comparison to watching the bidding for Chloe, because much like the bidding for her, it quickly went from loose change to a hundred, and the person driving the bidding?

Aubrey Posen.

Ashley nudged Stacie. "Isn't that your girlfriend?"

"She's not my girlfriend." Stacie grit out, her focus going from where Aubrey stood with her friends, calling every bid people made, to Chloe's obvious growing annoyance once she realized who was preventing the bidding to close. Stacie didn't know the story there, but clearly they had history. Messy history. Messy enough that Chloe was instructing some friends of hers by the stage to pool their money and beat Aubrey.

"What's going on?" Jessica asked.

Onstage, Beca kept the bidding going, despite Chloe's frustrated gestures to cut the bidding off, because Chloe had been the same person who'd told all of them the minimum amount they needed to collect, and what would be an ideal take at the end of their fundraising.

"Stacie's girlfriend is bidding on Chloe."

"You have a girlfriend?" Cynthia Rose asked, intrigued.

"We just hook up." Stacie said simply, before her jaw dropped slightly when Aubrey put an end to the farce by declaring "Five hundred."

Because, okay, yeah, that was enough to cover their entire travel expenses to North Carolina in January.

And apparently there was something Aubrey wasn't telling her about the whole ordeal.

Not to mention that while Stacie was a little annoyed that for all her claims that they were just hooking up, she realized she wanted to know more about Aubrey Posen. Or _everything_ about Aubrey Posen.

Starting with why Chloe didn't want to give Aubrey the time of day.


	3. Chapter 3

A smirking, cloying, know-it-all-looking, alt-girl/walking eyeliner advertisement greeted Aubrey when she came over to the side of the stage to make the payment and get details on the auction reward, and Aubrey could already feel herself bristle, even though the girl hadn't said a word yet. When Aubrey told her who she'd bid on, the girl whistled. "Awful lot of money for someone who tried to get people to bid against you."

"Too bad you need the money." Aubrey muttered under her breath, counting out the bills to make the payment.

The girl's gaze on Aubrey grew in intensity, discerning, obviously trying to figure out her deal. "What's in it for you?"

Aubrey glanced at her. "Does everyone get this kind of an interrogation, or am I just really special?"

"You're just really _something_ ," the girl retorted. "So Chloe's pissed you bid on her, Stacie's pissed you bid on Chloe, and you just put yourself on the Bellas' hit list. You're a dangerous woman to know…" she glanced at Aubrey's name on the contact information sheet she'd just filled out. "Aubrey." She paused, and then frowned slightly, as if the name sounded familiar but couldn't figure out why.

"Are we done?" Aubrey asked tiredly. She did not need a recap of her new, updated place in the Bellas' realm of awareness, and definitely not from a girl whose ear monstrosities would have given each one of her previous Barden Bella captains nightmares for the rest of time.

"Yeah." The girl said curtly, handing Aubrey a piece of paper that indicated Chloe's name, and the phone number to call to finalize plans for the reward. "You're done here."

Aubrey took the slip, and after she said a quick goodbye to her friends, made a swift exit, hoping to leave the party before Chloe – or Stacie – decided to start a confrontation in such a public place.

She'd already had more than her fair share of public humiliation, thank you very much.

Besides, Stacie had her number, and she could always just stake out the Bellas' house or rehearsal space if she needed to talk to Stacie, and hopefully Stacie would have calmed down by the time they next saw each other.

But when she slid into the backseat of the taxi, she was quickly followed by the righteous indignation of one Stacie Conrad.

" _You bid on Chloe?_ " Stacie demanded.

Aubrey stared at her for a moment, before she blinked, gathering her wits, and turned to the driver to instruct him to head towards the Barden campus. She then turned back to Stacie. "I had a plan."

"Which involved spending an obscene amount of money on someone who _isn't_ the one you're sleeping with!" Stacie accused.

So she was totally taking back the part where she thought Stacie had discretion when they were in public.

"Was this your 'plan'?" Stacie continued, using air quotes on the last word to indicate her displeasure. "Because you're a piece of work."

Aubrey leaned against the window on her side of the car, and turned to face Stacie. "Do you know how much it will cost you in terms of logistics, if you make it all the way to the finals?"

Stacie frowned, confused at the seeming non-sequitur between her accusation and Aubrey's question.

"Because as successful as tonight's turnout was, based on cover charge? You're probably still going to be just barely covering your expenses for the rest of the ICCAs." Aubrey informed her. "And I bid on Chloe because it's the only way she'll talk to me about anything Bella-related, and trust me, as far as she's concerned? Me sleeping with you counts as 'Bella-related'. And I hate to say it, but as awesome as she is, nobody's going to shell out that much money just to talk to her, especially when they can do it for free."

Stacie's frown deepened, her vast intellect struggling to catch up with the vague facts Aubrey had just presented, a part of her refusing to accept the obvious. Except it was inevitable to have to acknowledge: "You're the girl who bailed."

Aubrey rolled her eyes at the description.

Stacie slumped, her previous indignation momentarily set aside for more personal concerns. "Did you know, when we—"

"No." Aubrey cut the question off quickly. "I didn't know you were a Bella until you gave me the ticket. But I should have."

"We weren't exactly big on the talking." Stacie pointed out. Her brow wrinkled as she tried to put together the puzzle before her. "And you and Chloe—"

"We're friends. Really. She's my best friend, even if she kind of hates me right now. But the Bellas was a big part of our lives, and me leaving the Bellas kind of put her on the spot, and I promised to stay away…"

"Except we're…"

"Yeah."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Stacie looked down, at where her hand was just mere inches away from Aubrey's, and slowly reached out to graze the tip of her finger on Aubrey's skin, testing the waters, and smiled sadly when Aubrey didn't move away her hand and allowed the contact to continue. She looked back up at Aubrey. "Why?"

Aubrey tilted her head slightly in question.

"Why did you leave?"

"Chloe didn't tell you?"

"Because you threw up on the audience?" Stacie recalled.

"That's just…" Aubrey sighed. "That was just the start of it."

"There are middle parts?"

Aubrey glanced down, and turned her hand, which was immediately covered with Stacie's. She smiled wryly. "It's a long story."

"Tell me."

* * *

She was supposed to coordinate with the Bellas on the details of the "date", but Aubrey supposed she couldn't exactly argue or make her own demands, which is why she wasn't exactly surprised when she received a text message arranging for her to meet Chloe at a nearby park.

When she got there, Chloe was already waiting, seated at one of the picnic tables that littered the park, and Aubrey didn't miss that there were eight girls including Stacie who were seated at another table a few feet away. She smiled wryly. "You didn't need to bring all of them."

"You made them curious."

"You caused a fuss." Aubrey pointed out.

Chloe shook her head, as if still in disbelief that they were in this position. She looked at Aubrey, her displeasure clear. "You slept with Stacie."

"I did."

"Repeatedly."

Aubrey only looked at her, unwilling to divulge more than what she deemed necessary.

"Obviously enough for her to take your advice," Chloe observed.

"Look, I'm sorry lines were crossed, but I'm not apologizing for sleeping with her." Aubrey told her.

"'Lines were crossed'?" Chloe repeated, giving her a look of incredulity as her defenses quickly went up and made her go on the offensive. "I told you that you don't get to walk away from the Bellas and still try to be involved in our business."

"Contributing to your fundraiser isn't being 'involved' in your business." Aubrey argued.

"A fundraiser you helped conceptualize!"

"I'm a business major! That's part of what we do!"

"And I guess it's a _coincidence_ that you told one of my girls exactly what to do for the fundraiser?" Chloe demanded.

"Surprisingly, yes!" Aubrey exclaimed. "It's not that large a student population, Chloe."

"Stacie's on the prowl constantly and you don't like casual relationships." Chloe pointed out.

Aubrey, surprisingly to Chloe, conceded that particular point with a quick glance away.

And anyone else would have picked up on that moment of concession and used it to their advantage, but Chloe – despite her offensive stance and the fact that she's been yearning for this confrontation since the night of the party, and especially after she'd learned Stacie had been the point of connection between Aubrey and the Bellas – was still the same girl who had been best friends with Aubrey for three years, who had been beside Aubrey throughout college, as they went from awkward freshmen to self-assured upperclassmen. Chloe kept Aubrey's secrets, and knew all of Aubrey's tells, and _that_ was a clear tell. Chloe leaned forward, grabbing one of Aubrey's hands on the table, and forcing Aubrey's gaze and attention back to her. "You don't like casual relationships," Chloe repeated, watching Aubrey closely. "But you like _her_ , don't you?"

Aubrey wondered if it was worth trying to deny anything, because she and Stacie hadn't discussed anything, and Aubrey already knew that despite their growing closeness, she and Stacie weren't in any kind of exclusive committed relationship.

Chloe narrowed her eyes at Aubrey. "You really didn't know?"

"No." Aubrey said softly. She glanced up to meet Chloe's gaze. "I stayed away, like I promised. I've been doing the Business major, prelaw, proto-future Republican scene more than I ever have. And I _still_ ran into her."

Chloe made a face. "You hate that crowd."

"Nobody in collegiate a cappella would be in that crowd." Aubrey reminded.

Chloe rolled her eyes. "When I told you to stay away, I didn't mean for you to sell yourself down the river."

Aubrey smiled wryly. "When you're top of your class and an early favorite to do well in the LSATs, they not only kiss your ass, nobody dares to call you the Pukenator or Pukey Posen to your face."

Chloe shook her head. "The Trebles aren't very creative when it comes to nicknames, are they?" Her expression softened, and she smiled at Aubrey. "I miss you."

Aubrey smiled back. "I miss you too."

Chloe regarded Aubrey thoughtfully, studying her best friend for indications on what Aubrey had been up to while they had taken some time apart. Tentatively, she started, "You know, when you get your soul back…"

Aubrey laughed, shaking her head. "I'm not coming back to the Bellas, Chloe."

Chloe pouted. "Why not?"

"Honestly? It's a stressor. I love the singing, and the sisterhood, and everything that involves, but I don't want to deal with the stress of competition like we had these past two years. Add to that the possible trauma of Lincoln?" Aubrey shook her head. "I can't."

"I thought you said you quit because your dad told you to." Chloe noted, but without the vitriol of her earlier accusations.

"Yeah," Aubrey conceded, "but these past few months have been grueling, but I haven't been up at two AM worshipping the porcelain throne because of a panic attack."

Chloe, who had been witness to many such anxiety attacks, had to smile. "I'm glad. I'm happy for you, Bree."

Aubrey smiled back. "But what about you? Why haven't the Bellas been out performing with the new line up?"

Chloe rolled her eyes. "My supposed-to-be co-captain up and left. We're barely managing to do all the work in putting together songs, and adding choreography; and most recently fundraising?" She shook her head. "They've barely been keeping up with the cardio, and when I tell you that you suck for doing this to me, I only mean it because of context."

Aubrey regarded her thoughtfully. "Can't you get at least one of them to be in charge of the basics like cardio? And you sound like you need a manager."

Chloe huffed a small laugh. "A manager. Yeah. That's exactly what I need for the Bellas." She glanced at where the new Bellas were seated, some of whom were talking among themselves, while others – particularly Beca and Stacie – were watching her and Aubrey.

Aubrey turned to follow her gaze, and rolled her eyes when she saw the alt-girl from the night of the party/fundraiser. She turned back to Chloe. "Who's your charity case?"

"Hmm?" Chloe murmured questioningly.

"The alt-girl with attitude? I know you didn't hire her for public appeal, and I've never seen anyone else trip on a flat surface before; The Bellas have rejected perfectly good singers who can't follow choreography before, so what's the deal with the headphones that have a girl growing out of them?"

Chloe gave her a scolding look. "Be nice. And there's no 'deal'."

Aubrey lifted an eyebrow, because if Chloe thought she was the only one who could see a crush through such transparent denial, she was mistaken. But she was just making inroads in repairing her relationship with Chloe, so she didn't push.

After a long moment, Chloe suddenly frowned and faced Aubrey. "You like Stacie."

Aubrey had no idea if that had been a question.

"You bid $500 to win me, but let two guys battle it out to $450 for her?" Chloe asked.

"Closing bid was $480, actually." Aubrey corrected.

Chloe gave her a withering glare.

Aubrey shook her head before she dug into her purse, extracting a slip of paper similar to the one Beca had handed her the night of the auction, and handed it to Chloe.

Chloe took it, curious.

"You're only allowed to win the bid for one Bella at a time." Aubrey explained. "I know how popular Stacie is, and I know that you would have been even more pissed off if I bid on you by proxy."

Chloe glanced briefly at her, and then turned the slip over, and saw Stacie's name written on it. She cut a glance at Aubrey. "Did your dad pay you off to quit the Bellas and this is your way of getting revenge, or…"

"Or maybe I'm top of my class and being a business major comes in handy to make money." Aubrey corrected. "But actually Nick's a dick, but he's a dick with deep pockets and doesn't believe that just because someone's auctioned off, even for fun, means they have to do anything in particular to earn it."

Chloe stared at her. "You pulled that whole thing off?"

"Business. Prelaw. DAR." Aubrey reminded.

"I can see that." Chloe agreed, wide-eyed and in awe. And then she gasped, as she was hit with an epiphany. "You should totes be the Bellas' manager."

* * *

"Wait."

Aubrey groaned, grabbing a pillow and covering her head with it, effectively covering her ear.

Stacie grabbed the pillow, and tossed it over Aubrey's side of the bed. "You let some douchebag bid me out?"

Aubrey grumbled. "When you put it that way…"

"And you knew he would outbid anyone who tried to bid for me?" Stacie pressed, lifting herself up on one elbow so she could look down at Aubrey.

"The question?" Aubrey asked reluctantly, turning to lay on her back and look up at Stacie.

"You knew you were going to lose anyway, if he was going to meet every bid there was. Why didn't you try to bid me to $500?" Stacie asked.

"Because Nick's an idiot and could have gotten confused if the girl who made him bid on you bid at that price." Aubrey answered. "Chloe liked my plan, by the way. You're the only one who thinks it sucks."

"Yeah, it sucks!" Stacie exclaimed. "Chloe was at $340 when you shut it down with five Ben Franklins."

Aubrey reached over to recover her pillow, and turned back to Stacie. "Let's focus on the part where I got someone to bid a ridiculous amount on a girl he wasn't even going to get to hang out with, purely on principle and because I asked, and the Bellas are that much richer for it."

Stacie hummed. "Or I could keep reminding you that I would have had the highest bid if you weren't so intent on making a point with Chloe."

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "You're never letting me live this down, are you?"

Stacie grinned, and gave her a quick kiss before settling into bed beside her. "Well, you're managing the Bellas now, I'm gonna need every leverage I can get."

Aubrey shook her head slightly, still dismayed that time and distance hadn't provided her with immunity from Chloe's wide-eyed, puppy-dog look and had been unable to say no to Chloe's suggestion of managing the Bellas. Instead of answering Stacie, she turned to check her phone and set the alarm.

Stacie waited, and once Aubrey settled on her side, moved in closer to Aubrey's back and wrapped an arm around the blonde's waist. "I'm thinking since you'll be around more, maybe we can turn this into more than just a regular thing."

Even though Stacie couldn't see it, she practically felt it when Aubrey smiled. "Are you asking me to be your girlfriend, Stacie?"

"I'm just giving you the opportunity to make it up to me in ways I wouldn't with someone I'm just casually hooking up with." Stacie told her in a teasing manner.

Aubrey huffed in amusement, but didn't say anything.

"You and me, Aubrey Posen." Stacie moved closer so she could trail a line of kisses from Aubrey's shoulder to her ear. "What do you think? Will you be my girlfriend?"

There was a pause, where both of them held their breath, recognizing the tease for its deeper implications, before Aubrey spoke to answer.

"Well, since you asked nicely, yes. Okay." Aubrey mused, turning slightly to meet Stacie's lips with her own. She smiled into their kiss. "And you know what?"

Stacie hummed questioningly.

"I think I like you just a bit better now than when you didn't know my name."

Stacie grabbed her pillow, and hit Aubrey with it.

.

.

.

End.

* * *

Thanks for reading!


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